FOSS and the election

[Robert Brockway]

On Thu, 22 Dec 2005, Tony Abou-Assaleh wrote:

> There is a cost associated with using FOSS, and in many cases it may
> exceed the costs of commercial software.

Hi Tony.  This isn't a personal attack at all but I have to say I really 
dislike this sort of phraseology.  The use of the words "in many cases" 
makes it sound like a strong statement but it is cut down by "may" thus 
rendering the statement largely inert.

Of course FOSS _might_ cost more in many cases but does it?

According to much independent literature on the subject, the answer is no, 
FOSS does not cost more in the majority of cases.  The costs are sometimes
comparable to commercial software but are often much less.  The cases 
where FOSS costs more are much rarer.

Of couse the issue of costing is a complex one.  I work almost 
exclusively with FOSS.  On the few occassionsl that I use commercial 
software I find licencing, and dealing with it annoying.  In terms of 
commercial software, anything except site licencing requires signifcant 
human effort to manage from year to year.  This is a hidden cost few 
companies consider.  Lost productivity when a licencing system breaks is 
another hidden cost - this happens more often than it should too.

Rob

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